Blackout poetry is a spiritual practice. There are few other mediums allowing us to take the words that tried to hurt us and transform them into a life-giving invocation. Call it redemption. Call it alchemy. Whatever you choose to name it, do so in reverence of how we are healing.

This month my friends and shared their blackout poetry. I felt this sense of solidarity with them as I read how they used a sharpie marker on hurtful books to reject a narrative and reclaim ourselves. I want to join in on the fun.

When writing The Hero and the Whore I knew that I wanted to give the sexual violence survivors within scripture a new perspective on their stories. I chose poetry as the medium to reclaim their voices. There is a blackout poem within the book that takes a slut shaming harm-filled scripture and allows a story to be told. Creating that blackout poem felt seamless because my intention was to find the person hidden within the lies. My only worry was that someone would call me a heretic for using blackout poetry with scripture. I don’t worry about that anymore. I see the face of God when I am able to shift focus and shatter the silences that we are “supposed” to be bound to.

Blackout Poetry About the Theology of Our…

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